Re: re: copyright

For the record the author text has *never* been removed from the
GraphicsMagick files. This can easily be verified since the full
history is available via GraphicsMagick CVS.  There was a period of
time (as can be expected)  that the development file headers were in
flux.  We were faced with hundreds and hundreds of files which needed
a header update.  The headers were typically 60 lines long, with
varying formatting, and distributed across many subdirectories.  The
first step was to simply substitue "GraphicsMagick Group" for
"ImageMagick Studio" and include text in Copyright.txt which stated
that *all* of the files (at that time) not explicitly covered by a
different copyright were also copyright "ImageMagick Studio".

When there was the opportunity, I wrote a program which successfully
dealt with replacing the file headers.  There were several renditions
of the headers until we ended up with a format which we felt did
justice to *all* of the copyright holders (not only ImageMagick
Studio) while keeping the header down to manageable size.  We did some
searches and analysis and determined that a number of (four) copyright
statements were missing, so we added the missing statements based on
the best information available.  It was necessary for us to annotate
the copyrights at the per-file level in order to ensure that there
would be no confusion in the future.

Copyrights are not about personal attribution.  They are not about
feeling good.  They are about obeying the law, and respecting the
rights of the copyright holder.  We have done our best to respect the
copyrights of ImageMagick Studio and the other copyright holders and
will continue to do so in the future.

I have no interest in diminishing ImageMagick, far from it.  I am
proud to have helped to develop ImageMagick.  There is still a framed
ImageMagick logo picture on my wall.  I am still happy to help
ImageMagick users with using ImageMagick.  I believe that the other
GraphicsMagick Group members feel the same pride that I do.

Since we are no longer welcome to develop ImageMagick (I am still
confused as to how/why that came about), we are developing
GraphicsMagick.  Naturally we want GraphicsMagick to succeed.  By
observing each other's rights in an above-board fashion, we can
establish a level playing field so that users can choose the package
they prefer without concern that someone's legal rights are being
violated.

Thanks,

Bob
======================================
Bob Friesenhahn
[email protected]
http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen



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